By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City Junior High basketball teams each made a big statement Thursday night against West Memphis East.
The Junior Mustangs, led by Stephon Weaver's 21 points, improved to 10-2 overall and 6-1 in the AAAAA-East Conference by steamrolling East 64-38.
Before the junior boys took the floor, the Junior Lady Mustangs were equally as impressive, taking a 44-17 win over the WM East junior girls.
Forrest City evens their season mark at 6-6 overall and improves to 2-5 in the conference.
"I don't know what got into the girls tonight, but I hope whatever it was carries over for the rest of the season," said Junior Lady Mustang Coach Jacky England.
Indeed, the Forrest City girls started like a house afire, especially Fareeda Washington, who scored 13 of her 15 points in the first period as the Junior Lady Mustangs raced to a 19-3 lead.
By the half, Forrest City led 28-5 and by the end of the third period, the girls were up 36-13.
Washington was the only Forrest City player to reach double digit scoring, but she had plenty of help from her teammates.
Cassandra Jackson finished with six points, Matisha Dobbins had eight and Bookita Vaughn added four while Astrin Allen, Tyueiko Appleby, Dekisha Davis and Shalanda Barton had two points each.
Jasmine Woodard led East with six points.
Forrest City will play at West Memphis Wonder Monday.
*Annie Camp led 12-2 after the first quarter and scored 10 or more points every quarter afterward in defeating West Memphis Wonder 51-43 in junior girls' basketball Thursday night at Annie Camp.
The Whirlwinds (4-10, 2-7 AAAAA-East) led 24-14 at halftime and 34-25 entering the final quarter. Natasha Lagrone led Annie Camp with 12 points while Lauren Hall and Talya Anderson tossed in 10 each.
*Blytheville outscored Jonesboro MacArthur 14-2 in the third quarter to move ahead en route to a 48-41 junior girls' victory Thursday.
Anna Kaloghirou scored 16 points and Sara Waddell had nine for MacArthur (7-5, 4-3 AAAAA-East), which led 23-20 at halftime. Blytheville led 34-25 after three periods.
The Forrest City Junior Mustangs wasted little time putting away West Memphis East Thursday, avenging their lone conference loss.
East won the first meeting between the two teams 37-35. Thursday, Forrest City invoked the "30-point mercy rule" late in the fourth period on the way to a 64-38 victory.
The Junior Mustangs led 20-6 after one period and 35-19 at the half, which prompted head coach Jimmy Williams to rest his starting five until the two minute mark of the third period. Williams emptied the bench late in the fourth period.
Of Weaver's 21 points, which included three, threes, 12 points came before the half.
Kelson Stewart helped out with 16 points, scoring nine in the second period, while Marcus Britt finished with 14 points, 10 in the first period.
Next up for the Junior Mustangs, a trip to West Memphis Wonder on Monday.
*Annie Camp went 16-of-16 from the free-throw line to hold off West Memphis Wonder 39-33 Thursday in junior boys' basketball at Annie Camp.
Murray Benton scored 16 points and LaDustin Williams had 11 to lead Annie Camp (8-5, 3-4 AAAAA-East), which trailed 14-13 after a quarter before taking a 17-16 halftime advantage. The Whirlwinds led 31-25 after three quarters.
Frank Medlock scored 12 to lead Wonder, which dropped to 4-3 in league play.
Annie Camp won the eighth-grade game 49-29.
The Whirlwinds will take on rival MacArthur Monday at Hurricane Gym in the last of four games that begin with the eighth-grade girls' contest at 4 p.m.
*Jonesboro MacArthur took control of the game in the fourth quarter, outscoring Blytheville 21-9 en route to a 57-41 victory in junior boys' basketball Thursday night.
The Cyclones (10-2, 6-1 AAAAA-East) led 36-32 heading into the final quarter before putting the game away with their big fourth-quarter spurt. Four players scored in double figures, led by Logan Nutt with 16 points. Roosevelt Griffin added 15 while Grant Cook and Jeremy Thomas tossed in 12 each.
The Cyclones led 15-8 after the first quarter and led 26-20 at halftime.
Marvin Lindsey, Jr., of Magnolia and president of the Arkansas High School Coaches Association, announced the names of the head coaches and staffs for the 2004 Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star Football and Volleyball games at a news conference held Thursday in the office of the Arkansas Activities Association.
Tyson and Wal-Mart will be the named sponsors of the All-Star Games.
Little Rock Central Coach Bernie Cox will head coach the East All-Star football team and will be assisted by Jim DeVazier of Jonesboro, Dave King of Batesville, Dave Williams of Pocahontas, David Carpenter of Junction City and Norman Callaway of LR Central.
Harrison coach Tommy Tice will lead the West All-Star football team and will be assisted by Marcus Jones of Benton, Jim Eskola of Pulaski Robinson, Danny Abshier of Prairie Grove, Mike Harrod of Pea Ridge and Kirk Bock of Harrison.
The 2004 All-Star football game will be played on Friday, June 18, at Reynolds Razorback Stadium on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville. Kick off is set for 7 p.m.
Laura Kozella of Conway, ws named the head coach for the East Volleyball team.
Kozella will be assisted by Debbie Stepp of Wynne and Laura Park of Lonoke.
Morrilton's Patti Hill will head coach the West Volleyball team and will be assisted by Steve Haaser of Fort Smith Southside and Amanda Britt of Paris.
The 2004 All-Star Volleyball game will be played Wednesday, June 16, at Barnhill Arena on the University of Arkansas campus.
The Arkansas High School Coaches Association Clinic will be held June 16-18, at the Radisson Hotel in Fayetteville.
Several Arkansas High School coaches and college coaches will
be featured speakers during the week.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Stopping Mountain Home sophomore guard Samantha Dean is "Priority One" for the Forrest City Lady Mustangs tonight.
Forrest City will host Mountain Home in what is shaping up as yet another key AAAAA-East Conference game at Mustang Arena.
The Lady Mustangs are still searching for their first win over the Lady Bombers.
Forrest City lost twice to the Mountain Home girls last year --but only by a total of just nine points.
The Lady Mustangs downed Blytheville Tuesday to earn their first conference win of the year.
The Lady Bombers, at 2-2 in the league, are tied for fourth place and are hoping to make a return trip to the Class AAAAA state tournament.
The team made the cut a year ago as the No. 4 seed from the East, but lost in the first-round.
"We have worked on changing our defense a little this week, in hopes of stopping or slowing down Dean," said Lady Mustang Coach Sue Jayroe. "We had a good, hard practice Thursday and I think the girls are focused and ready to play. Getting our first conference win helped and the girls expect to win tonight."
For Dwight Lofton's Mustangs, the game looms big as well.
After taking a heart-stopping 62-60 win over Blytheville Tuesday on a buzzer shot by John Foreman, the Mustangs can't afford a let-down against the Bombers.
A year ago, at Mustang Arena, the Mustangs used a 57-point second half (36 points in the fourth period alone) to take down Mountain Home 72-41.
Tonight's four-game schedule which includes the JV girls and
boys, will tip at 4 p.m.
The Forrest City seventh-grade boys and girls basketball teams will participate in a four-team Jamboree Saturday, Jan. 24, at the Palestine-Wheatley High School gym.
The Forrest City girls will play at 8, 9 and 11 a.m. while the seventh-grade boys will play at 8:30, 9:30 and 11:30 a.m.
Other teams involved in the jamboree include Brinkley, Marianna and Palestine-Wheatley.
Admission to the jamboree is $1 per person and concessions and sports action photos will be available. Each team will play each other in one, 20 minute half, using a continuous clock.